Nakaimo - My Little Sister Is Among Them!

Guest Author - Lesley Aeschliman

Nakaimo – My Little Sister Is Among Them! is an anime series produced by Studio Gokumi.

Shogo Mikadono is the main character of the series. He's the son of a wealthy businessman who has passed away. At the beginning of the episode, he hears a girl's voice outside his window, and she claims to be Shogo's little sister. Shogo replies that he's an only child, and he looks out the window; however, he sees no one there.

Shogo's mother talks with him about the conditions of his inheritance. In order to become the head of the family company, Shogo must find a woman and fall in love with her before he finishes high school. Shogo is transferred to the school that his father attended, and he is expected to find his future wife there.

On the first day of school, he meets Konoe Tsuruma, who is hit by a truck as she's trying to cross the street. When Shogo checks on her, it turns out that she's OK. She goes to the same school as Shogo, so the two go together. Shogo ends up in Konoe's class, and is told to sit at an empty desk next to her. Sitting on Shogo's other side is Miyabi Kannagi, who refuses to talk to him.

After school, Konoe learns that Shogo has a scar on his forehead from an accident he had as a child; the accident has made that time in his life fuzzy in his mind. The two almost have a tender moment, but are interrupted by Mana Tendo and Rinka Kunitachi; they take Konoe with them to a meeting. After they leave, Miyabi confronts Shogo.

When Shogo returns to his apartment, he receives a delivery of a birthday cake and an action figure of a character he liked when he was younger. This is followed by a phone call from his little sister, and she has disguised her voice. She admits to sending the gifts, but won't reveal her name. At the end of the first episode, Shogo meets one more female character, but her name is not revealed. The way the scene is played, it appears that she admits to being the little sister.

In all the write-ups I've seen for this series, it plays up the premise that Shogo has to try to figure out which of his potential suitors is actually his little sister. So if this girl has actually admitted to it, then doesn't that destroy the premise? Also, another weakness is that if he's really that concerned about avoiding falling for his little sister, couldn't a blood test be done to determine that?

Overall, I felt that Nakaimo – My Little Sister Is Among Them! was rather weak. In addition to the issues I've already mentioned, I thought that the series relies too much on harem tropes that have already been used in other harem shows (and in some cases, those other series used the tropes better). This series also suffers from bad dialogue. In addition, by the end of the first episode, all of the potential suitors are introduced; however, only two of them have been developed as characters. The others just seemed to "be there." Perhaps future episodes will provide development for the other characters.

I personally have no interest in watching more of this series. If I'm going to watch a harem series where the protagonist doesn't remember who a potential love interest from his past is, I would much rather watch Love Hina.

Personally, I would recommend Nakaimo – My Little Sister Is Among Them! to anime viewers who are 16 or 17 years of age and older.